Succeeding Love

Beginning Of A Nightmare

Feighlynn

“Wow, nice car,” the valet boy’s eyes went wide, staring at Vin’s car.

Vin helped me up from the passenger seat, waiting for me to adjust my dress before tossing the boy the keys. I stifled a giggle at seeing the excitement in the kid’s eyes.

“Knock yourself out, kid.” Vin took the ticket from the boy, who couldn’t have been over twenty-one, and slipped him a fifty. “I just filled her up if you want to take her around the block a few times.”

“Really?!”

“Sure,” Vin patted his back before helping me up the first set of steps.

“That was awfully sweet of you,” I beamed up at my action hero.

“I remember being at that age. I’ve got good insurance.”

I grinned, almost tripping on the hem of my dress as I stared up at him. He was so handsome in his jacket and dress shirt. I had a feeling I would trip on my feet all night.

I also knew Vin would be there to catch me. He caught my shoulders, then rubbed his hand down my bare back. His eyes darkened as his hand rested on the lowest part of my back.

Maybe I’d get Vin to trip up once or twice, too. The way he was looking at me had butterflies fluttering chaotically in my chest. His looks were lethal on a regular day, but dressed up like this, I felt ready to combust with every glance in his direction.

“Have I told you how beautiful you look tonight?” Vin whispered in my ear. His tone was hushed and sexy.

“Once or twice,” I grinned, leaning against him.

He kissed me beside my ear, and I could feel his smile on my skin. “You’ll be hearing it once or twice more.”

“You don’t look too bad yourself.” I rested my hand lightly on his chest, admiring the hard muscles beneath my fingers.

He smirked, then said, “We don’t look too bad for getting ready in thirty minutes.”

“That’s a record for me. I thought it would take me thirty minutes to just figure out this dress.”

I bought this a little over a year ago for another event like this one. An event I was supposed to attend with Nick. He broke the news about Arlene before I ever even opened the garment bag. I felt Nick fading away at that point and picked out something a little more risky than what I normally would have. I’m glad I never wasted this dress on him.

“I helped,” Vin said proudly, rubbing his thumb on the small of my back. “I’ll be helping you get out of it later, too.”

I bit my lip to keep from gaping at his suggestive comment. I was already looking forward to getting home later.

Home with Vin.

Gosh, by next weekend, he could really live with me. I just have to talk to the kids to make sure this isn’t something that will cause therapy or anything like that.

“Fay!” I heard a familiar squeal as we walked into the foyer of the event building.

I looked over to see Virginia, one wife of Nick’s bosses, coming my way. She already looked intoxicated and had a full glass of white wine in one hand.

“Fay, my lovely. It’s so good to see you!”

She walked right up to me, pulling me into an overly enthusiastic hug. I almost fell down, but thankfully, Vin’s large hand on my back kept me upright.

“Virginia,” I laughed awkwardly. “Um, yeah. It’s good to see you too. How are you? How’s Ella?”

“Oh, good,” she waved her hand. “She’s with the nanny for the weekend. Gotta give this mama some time to get her drink on. You know what I mean?”

I smiled through the awkwardness. Cecilia, the long-time girlfriend of one of Nick’s other bosses, looked embarrassed for Virginia. I tried to smile and reassure her, but Cecilia never liked me much and just gave me a tight smile. She kept glancing at Vin, though, which I found to be unpleasant.

“Aw, Feighlynn,” Mr. Stevens, Virginia’s husband, came up and put a hand on his wife’s elbow. He grabbed it rather forcefully, which I liked little. He was always a little too rough under the surface with his wife and was all smiles and underhanded compliments to others around him. “I didn’t think I would have the pleasure of seeing you here.”

“Small world, I guess,” I smiled tightly. I had no reason to converse with the toxic man any longer, and didn’t want to open up more of a dialogue than he already had.

Mr. Stevens ran his eyes up and down my dress in a way that made me feel yucky. Vin must have noticed, because he grabbed my waist and pulled me against his side.

Stevens’ eyes crinkled in the corners, and I couldn’t tell if the tension was amusement or concealed irritation.

“We should get back to our table, Ginny,” he squeezed his wife’s arm, making her wince slightly. “Good to see you again, Feighlynn.”

Cecilia wrinkled her nose, gave me one last look, then sent Vin a completely different look before turning to follow her friend and Nick’s boss. I breathed a sigh of relief when they were gone.

“Who’s the sloshed chick?” Vin asked as Virginia was being dragged away.

He was still giving Mr. Stevens that hard look. Stevens was a hard man to like, especially for a morally conscious man like Vin.

“Nick’s boss and Virginia is his boss’s wife.”

“Oh.” Vin looked even more disgruntled.

I laughed at his protective expression. He looked every bit the action hero I deemed him to be, ready to sweep in and save the damsel from the evil rich man with more money than values.

Vin’s scowl slipped into a confused expression. “What?” He stared down at me.

“Nothing.” I hugged myself against him. “You’re just cute.”

“Me?” He raised his eyebrows. “I look cute when I’m pissed?”

“Are you pissed?”

He shrugged, scratching the back of his head. “Wouldn’t you be?”

“Then yes,” I smiled broadly, squeezing his thick waist. “You’re definitely cute when you’re pissed.”

He chuckled at me, then bent to kiss the top of my head. “And you’re cute all the time, which I see is going to be a problem the rest of the night.”

“What kind of problem?”

He grumbled, lifting my face to his with his fingers under my chin. “The problems that invoke the less sophisticated side of me.”

“Ooh, I like the less sophisticated side of you. He’s cute when he’s pissed.”

“He’s not cute,” Vin growled playfully. “He’s a feral mother fucker.” He pretended to munch on my neck, making me giggle.

“You two look as disgustingly gross as ever,” Al Milton suddenly appeared behind my cute, feral date. If Vin wasn’t so tall, I might have noticed him earlier. “Get a room.”

“Be nice,” an attractive woman with sharp eyes and a brilliant smile gave him a disapproving look. I had seen her at these events before, but never talked to her. She smiled warmly at me, holding out her hand. “Emma Milton. You must be Lynn.”

“Hello,” I shook her hand, noticing how warm it felt. “I think I’ve seen you once or twice, but we never got to meet.”

“I believe I recall seeing you in the past. It’s a shame we were never introduced previously, but I stayed away from the,” she flashed a glance at the table where Virginia and Cecilia were mingling with Nick’s other colleagues, “the less appealing crowd. Wouldn’t want to taint my ears with the nonsense of the vain and egocentric.”

I was taken aback for a moment, but she smiled kindly before adding, “Not you, Lynn, dear.”

“She’s talking about the Leroy and Stevens firm,” Al filled me in. “My wife isn’t fond of lawyers on a good day.”

I liked the backbone of this woman. The way she held her head high and spoke her mind. I couldn’t help but giggle to myself, knowing I had felt the same way for years at these functions during the times I had to stomach Nick’s bosses’ arrogant conversations. Emma’s eyes sparkled at me, like she could sense my train of thought.

“It’s good to see you again, Em,” Vin kissed her cheek, offering her a loose hug.

“Kevin. I heard wonderful things about you in your new role. The rumors of the barbaric bailiff that tosses criminals like they weigh nothing reached even my department on the other side of the city.”

“Emma works for the school board,” Al filled me in.

“Ah,” I nodded. I see now why she has a more authoritative demeanor.

“So, tell me, Lynn. What do you do?” Emma hooked her arm in mine and walked towards the large conservatory.

“I’m a graphic designer, working from home.”

Emma and I chatted about work as we began walking through the gardens, but soon we were talking about other things, too. The flowers were in bloom, which I had to stop and appreciate. I love the gardens here, but haven’t been in a while.

Emma was warm and laughed often. When I leaned too far over one of the koi ponds and almost fell in, she burst into a fit of giggles, trying to hide them behind her hand, watching Vin catch me at the last minute. It probably looked comical seeing this big, burly man lift me by my waist right before my nose touched the water. I may or may not have squealed like a monkey, too.

“Oh, Kevin,” Emma kept laughing behind her hand. “She is absolutely lovely. I don’t think you could have picked a better match. Adorable.” Emma pinched my cheek while Vin was still holding me. “I just want to put you in my purse and take you home.”

“I’ll fight you for her,” Vin grumbled, helping to set me on my unstable feet.

“I’m sure you would,” Emma smirked, with that sharp gleam in her eyes.

“I told you.” Al elbowed her while sending me a wink.

“Told her what?” I asked, smoothing the front of my dress.

“That Kevin was smitten.” Emma hooked her arm on her husband’s. “Oh, I’m parched after our walk. Let’s go find our table.”

Vin kept a hold of me as we wove our way out of the gardens and back into the main event room. It was quite crowded now, and I knew the event was close to starting. The hospital the fundraiser was for had slides going on a giant projector above the stage. Images of sick kids in hospital beds were currently flashing brightly on the giant screen. One little girl smiling while cuddling a teddy bear made my eyes burn and my chest get all tight.

“Aw, baby,” Vin rubbed my back. “You look like you’re about to cry.”

“She’s just so little and cute. She’s too little to be in that big old bed.”

“That’s how they get you.” Al looked back at me with a crooked grin. “Playing on your heartstrings.”

“They can take all my money,” I murmured as Vin wiped the few drops of moisture that were leaking under my eyes.

“You’re fucking adorable. You know that?” Vin smirked.

“I’m telling you, I’m sneaking out of here with her in my pocket,” Emma said, grabbing two wine glasses off a tray and handing one to me.

“And I’m telling you, I’ll fight you for her,” Vin said, flagging down a server with a tray of beer. He held two fingers up and the server nodded, indicating to give him one minute.

“While you two are fighting, Lynn and I might sneak out of here and get some actual food. Did you see this menu?!” Al held up the menu card from the table. “Last year we got prime rib. Who eats eggplants?”

“Well,” Emma smirked, pushing her finger to her lips, then glancing down the front of Al’s body. It took me a second to understand what she was looking at. “I’ve devoured an eggplant occasionally.”

Al caught on right away, wiggling his eyebrows and pulling her close as she tried to act aloof, coolly drinking her wine. Meanwhile, my face felt like it was burning, and I let out a bashful laugh.

“What are you laughing at? You like eggplant too, don’t you?”

I bit my lip, staring into his heated gaze. “Only one, but it’s a little too big to eat all the way.”

“Lynn!” Emma acted outraged, clenching her pearls. “What in the heavens are you talking about?”

“The same thing you were,” Al snickered.

The server came back with two beers for Al and Vin, and when the lights flashed, we took our seats. The table fell into a steady conversation over dinner. Al begrudgingly ate his eggplant parmesan, making a brief show of pretending it was meat. I thought it was delicious, and so was everything else brought to us. When the last course, a fruit tart with vegan whipped topping, came, that was when the hosts began their presentations.

Throughout the presentations of the good work these donations have done for the hospital in the past, Vin was distracting me, feeding me bite after bite of the rich dessert. I ate all mine and most of his, which he seemed to find more than a little amusing.

His eyes kept traveling over my body, and I felt like he was undressing me where I was sitting in this room. I could feel the racy thoughts behind each of his looks, and it was getting to me. I pressed my thighs together, but that only worked while he wasn’t touching me. When he rubbed slow, sensuous circles on my knee, I knew my poor panties would be soaked through by the time we got home.

I need to fix myself now before it gets too bad.

“Where are you going?” Vin whispered as I discreetly stood up.

“Bathroom,” I grumbled.

He smirked, sitting back in his chair, all smug and proud. Damn it. Why did he have to look so good all the freaking time? My panties were done for.

“Hurry back, or I might have to go looking for you.”

Emma and Al gave me a knowing look that made me blush wildly. I hurried off before Vin could say anything else.

In the deserted bathroom, I grabbed a handful of paper towels and headed straight for the stall. I didn’t know how effective they would be for the sheer lace I wore, but I had to at least attempt to dry them off.

When I felt more calmed down, especially in the southern regions, and my panties felt mostly dry, I fixed them back in place and went to wash my hands. As I was scrubbing with the sweet-smelling soap, I heard the door to the bathroom open and looked up absentmindedly.

My heart hammered in my chest, seeing Nick there in the doorway with a grim expression on his face.

“Nick?”

His eyes tightened. He took a step inside, so the door swung shut behind him.

“Nick, this is the women’s room!”

“Fay,” he slurred, and I realized right then that he was drunk. I had never seen Nick drunk like this before. He was getting closer, and I could smell the alcohol seeping out of him.

“Wh-what are you doing?” I felt the cold porcelain of the stand-alone sink as I backed up as far as I could.

“Fay,” his lip quivered as he stopped right in front of me. “My Fay.”

He tried to grab at me, putting his hands on my shoulders like he was trying to hug me, but I pushed him off and he mis-stepped, falling to the ground. I was about to run out of there when a noise startled me. A broken sob, choking him before a series of groans left his twisted lips.

“I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry, Fay. I should never have left you. I n-never should have-”

As his words became incoherent, his groans and cries got louder. He looked pathetic, and not the least bit threatening.

The door opened again, and this time it was actually a woman. She wasn’t someone I recognized, and I could only hope she didn’t realize who Nick was when she gasped while catching sight of him.

“I’m terribly sorry,” I told her. “I think the stories of the kids got to him. Could you give me just a moment, and I’ll get him out of here?”

The woman looked less offended, and murmured, “Of… of course. Do you need some help?”

“Do I ever,” I groaned, but shook my head, bending over to lift my drunk and disorderly ex-husband off the ground.

“Oh, my,” she clenched her chest as Nick leaned against me and let out a strangled cry. He was trying to say he was sorry, still between sobs, but all he could get out were the ‘s’ sounds.

“I’m sorry. We have kids. I think that’s why it affected him so,” I said again as we passed by her at the door.

“Understandable. Poor dear.” She wrinkled her nose, probably catching a whiff of Nick’s boozey scent. It was hard to miss.

He kept grabbing my shoulders, crying against my hair as we walked out to the open area right outside the conservatory. I knew I wouldn’t be able to handle him much further, but also knew getting his bosses to deal with his drunken behavior was not the best idea. He is still my children’s father, and I would like for him to remain employed.

“Wait right here,” I said, guiding him to a bench right out of view of the event hall.

“D-don’t leave me, Fay,” he sniveled, trying to hold on to my hand.

“I’ll be right back. Let me get my bag,” I told him, prying my hand from his.

He had my kids this weekend. How the heck was he supposed to be a father while he was this messed up? The more I thought about it as I walked back into the event room, the more irritated I got.

Vin took one look at my face, then shot up out of his seat. I was glad we were off to the side and the room was dim, so not as many people noticed. He was kind of hard to miss under normal circumstances.

“I ran into a bit of an issue in the bathroom,” I whispered to him. “Can you help me?”

He looked excited for a second, but then something on my face must have shown that the something I needed help with would not be what he was thinking.

With a firm nod, he followed me out of the room, grabbing my hand along the way. I am sure he could feel my tension and probably sensed my bad mood. When we were out of the event room, I walked him over to the bench I had left Nick on, and he let out a frustrated groan of his own.

“What the fuck? Why is he here?”

I sighed, wondering where to start. “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t know why he followed me into the bathroom but-”

“He did what?” Vin’s face went stiff, making a shiver travel through me. Maybe I shouldn’t have said that yet.

I backtracked and started stammering about my words, “I mean, I was done. Just washing my hands. Maybe he thought it was the men’s. It is dark in here, and he is drunk...”

Right then, the lady from earlier came out of the women’s restroom. She stopped to look over at Nick with a pitiful look. “Poor dear. I hope your husband feels better soon. He looked so broken hugging you like that. Take care of those kiddos,” she said kindly before walking back to the event room.

“Hugging you?” Vin lifted his brows angrily. “That fucker followed you into the bathroom and was hugging you? What else did he do?”

“What?” I frowned at the hostility on Vin’s face. “Nothing! He’s just drunk.”

“Drunk excuses following you into the bathroom?!”

“Vin! Stop! If you’re going to just get mad, then go back to the table, and I’ll figure this out.” He was making this situation more hostile than I expected. I didn’t want to make a scene. I just wanted to discreetly get Nick out of here.

“You want me to leave you alone with him? No!”

Nick laughed drunkenly, shaking his head, which was leaning back against the wall from side to side. “That’s right, asshole. Go back to where you came from. We don’t want you here.”

“Fucking prick,” Vin nearly shouted, his giant body moving towards Nick’s.

I placed my hands on his chest to stop him. I suddenly wished I had grabbed Al instead. Vin was staring at Nick like he was going to kill him, and the look Nick was giving him in return wasn’t much better.

In a drunken slur, Nick said, “Get your hands off my wife, asshole.”

“I’m going to beat the word ‘ex’ into your mother fucking skull, you piece of trash,” Vin sneered, clenching his fists.

“Stop!” I begged, feeling like I had just made the biggest mistake of asking Vin to help me with this.

“You’re choosing some thug like him over me,” Nick egged him on.

“I’ll show you thug , motherfucker,” Vin moved around me.

I pulled at Vin’s arms as I yelled for him to stop, but it fell on deaf ears. It alerted the guard in the main foyer, who rushed over.

“Wh-what?” Nick tried to get up from the bench, but was too drunk to stand on his own. “You gonna hit me now, asshole?”

“You’re begging for it,” Vin went to swing, but I put all my weight into holding his arm back.

The security guard got there just in time to help yank Vin a few feet back, lessening the threat of my ex getting killed by Vin’s fist. I got tossed to the ground in the process and heard my dress rip a little, but was too high on adrenaline to notice where.

Another guard came and helped me up from the ground before going to help his friend. The two put more distance between Vin and Nick, but it caused enough of a commotion that people filtered out of the event hall to look.

Mr. Stevens was one of those people, and when his eyes landed on Nick, he didn’t look surprised.

Vin was talking in loud whispers to the two security guards. They must be security sourced from city hall, because it seemed like Vin knew them. One even called him Mr. Trude a few times.

Could this have gotten anymore out of hand? Vin and Nick’s careers may be affected by this.

“You’re such an idiot, Feighlynn,” I whispered to myself. Why didn’t I get someone else to help me?

“I can take care of him from here, Miss Feighlynn,” Mr. Stevens approached me, pulling out a couple of bills from his wallet and waving over the attendant for the event. “Find his valet ticket and have someone drive him home,” he instructed the young attendant dressed in black slacks and a bright red vest. “This should cover the taxi back.”

“Um, where does he live, sir?” The young man looked nervously at Mr. Stevens, who was exuding arrogance and annoyance.

Mr. Stevens looked at me expectantly.

“Pacific Kress. It’s right across from the library downtown. I can have my son outside waiting.”

Mr. Stevens gave the attendant a look that had him scurrying off to accomplish the task. He paused beside Nick, looking awkwardly down at him like he was trying to figure out where to find the ticket.

“Nick, hand him the ticket for your car, please,” I pinched the bridge of my nose, feeling like his mother and not his ex-wife like I should.

“Come and get it yourself.” Nick gave me a teasing look that had Vin muttering obscenities again as the guards held him back.

I was done with this. All of it. I marched over to Nick, kicking his legs so he would sit up.

“Give me your wallet,” I demanded, holding out my hand.

Nick must have realized how over the edge I was, because that drunken smile left his face and he fumbled for his wallet in his back pocket.

When he placed it in my hands, I dug out a few twenties, then found his valet ticket in the front sleeve. I took the hundreds from the attendant’s hands and replaced them with the twenties.

“I’ll handle getting this jerk home. Just get me his key.”

“Yes ma’am,” he nodded, then walked hurriedly to the foyer.

I then stomped over to Mr. Stevens and pushed the bills against his chest. “Wave your money at someone else.”

He lifted a brow, looking amused. “I understand your frustration, but he’s excessively intoxicated, and you’re just a snack of a woman,” Mr. Stevens eyed me up and down.

Vin made a noise that was as feral as he claimed to be, but I was getting pretty worked up myself. I was in mom-mode, which was just as scary and way more effective.

“Your wife was excessively intoxicated too, but I still somehow doubt she would appreciate you sizing up another woman or calling her a snack. Why don’t you quit staring at my breasts and go take care of her?”

Mr. Stevens’ eyes narrowed on me, but then he pursed his lips and nodded, turning to go back into the event hall. I gave the same icy stare to the others loitering at the entrance, watching the show, and many of them turned to return to their seats, too.

“Ma’am,” the attendant from before came back with Nick’s car keys. “The car is waiting for you.”

“Good,” I tried to smile appreciatively at him, but my heart wasn’t in it.

I turned towards Nick, snapping my fingers. “Up. Now. We’re getting you home.”

“Who’s getting him home?” Vin asked loudly.

“I am.” I turned my stony stare on him. “If you have a problem with that, you can stay here too. If not, get your keys and follow me. I’ll need a right back when I’m done.”

He looked like he was about to argue, but something in my expression stopped him. “Fine,” Vin snapped, pulling his arm out of the first guard’s grip.

“You two, help me get him outside and into the car.” I looked pointedly at the guards until they moved. They hurried to either side of Nick, guiding his drunken steps out of the doors and down the steps. I followed behind, and Vin was right beside me, seething. I knew he had a lot to say just by the set of his jaw, but so did I.

“This is not fucking okay, Feighlynn,” was all he uttered between clenched teeth.

I scoffed, “No, it’s not. I will not cause more of a scene here. We’ll talk on the drive to my house.”

He went silent after that, and so did I. I didn’t want to fight, and I knew a fight was coming. Just not yet.

This entire situation was a freaking nightmare, and I would not let it get any worse.